Death becomes him?

Claims have emerged that FARC's spiritual leader and founder Pedro Antonio Marín, alias ‘Manuel Marulanda’ or ‘Sure Shot’ may be dead.

The news was reported in Colombia's Semana magazine and if true represents another shattering blow to the crumbling edifice of the leftwing guerrilla organization.

Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos announced in the interview that military intelligence sources had confirmed that the FARC number one died on 26th March at 6.30 in the afternoon.

Minister Santos confirmed that heavy aerial bombardments had been underway for days on presumed guerrilla targets around this date although FARC sources are said to have reported an apparent heart attack as cause of death.

With the veracity of the reports and cause - if any - of death yet to be confirmed, Colombia sits on a knife edge.

Marulanda has led the FARC since it's beginnings 45 years ago and is thought to be nearly in his 80s. With desertions at an all-time high and several high-ranking captains captured or killed, this latest blow could be the beginning of the end for the rebel group.

FARC on the brink?

Could things finally be about to change in war-torn Colombia?

This is Nelly Avila Moreno, the latest high-ranking member of rebel group FARC to hand herself in to the Colombian authorities.

Comandante Karina, as she was known to her comrades, is said to be responsible for a string of murders and abductions over the course of several decades in her native Antioquia province.

Her detention represents another coup for hardline President Alvaro Uribe in his fight against the cocaine and kidnap-funded Marxist insurgents.

Of late the FARC, who have operated freely in the countryside for close to 50 years, have suffered major morale-shattering reversals as prominent members have been either killed or brought in from the countryside.

In March, Ivan Rios - a member of FARC’s seven-man secretariat - was killed by his own bodyguard. The man who had formerly acted as guardian turned assassin and offered up his former employer’s severed hand and laptop as proof of death to the authorities.

The killing of Raul Reyes - another high-ranking captain - in the same month was described by Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos as the “biggest blow so far” to the FARC.

Now safely in government custody, Karina has spoken out on national television, appealing to her former comrades to give up the fight and follow her example by handing themselves in.

And so what seemed unthinkable up until a short time ago - an end to Colombia’s perpetual state of insecurity - now seems to be within reach.

But while the president may justifiably feel he has turned a corner in the fight against internal terrorism, military actions close to the border have lead to simmering tensions between neighbouring Ecuador and Venezuela. Diplomatic relations, particularly with Venezuela's volatile Hugo Chavez, urgently need attention.

Whether Mr Uribe can prove himself as effective in international diplomacy as he has in national defence remains to be seen.

Pioneering Spirit

A new era of travel has arrived in Colombia with the arrival of new 'ultra-low' budget airline, Spirit.

On 8th May Spirit Airlines, based in Miramar, Florida, opened a new route between Fort Lauderdale and Cartagena on Colombia's north coast. The airline says it is celebrating the new route with introductory fares of $49 USD to be followed with everyday value season fares of $119.

The route to Cartagena represents the airline's first experimentation with the country and, if successful, could bring momentous change to both the national economy and the freedom of movement of its people.

For years the Colombian air travel market has been dominated by its two major domestic players, Avianca and the smaller Aerorepublica, but with prices out of reach for most ordinary Colombians air travel has mostly remained a preserve of the elite.

Spirit, which has based its successful low cost model on companies such as Ryanair, says it is planning to include Bogota as a destination in 2008 and is studying the possibility of including other cities in the future.

The news will be greeted with jubilation by both the Colombian diaspora within the United States and for those nationals seeking to expand their horizons overseas. With the arrival of Spirit, many Colombians will now feel the world is somewhat closer than before.

Extradition

The DEA have finally got their man. The 42 year old recognised as one of the most powerful of the jailed paramilitary leaders, Carlos Mario Jimenez, alias Macaco, has finally been extradited from Colombia to the US where he will face drugs charges.

Jimenez is thought to have been at the head of the now demobilised AUC, known in Spanish as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or United Self-Defences of Colombia. The organization he formerly ran has long been linked with drug trafficking and money laundering as a means of personal enrichment and for the procurement of arms to continue the supposed struggle against left-wing guerrillas.

Before extradition was finally granted by the Supreme Court in Bogota, Jimenez himself was a resident of Colombia's most notorious jail, La Combita, where US authorities allege he continued to control illegal activities.

President Alvaro Uribe, in his quest to ensure continuing stability in Colombia, has long been operating a system of demobilization and rehabilitation of former paramilitary and guerrilla members. Members are promised light sentences and immunity from extradition if they confess to their crimes but in the case of Macaco it seems being in jail was no barrier to further illicit activities.

Speaking at a meeting for businessmen in Medellin, Mr Uribe said, "We're not going to reward people who revert to crime."